Victor Bennett
Victor Bennett is a mortal man, formerly married to Patty Halliwell in the early 1970s and had three daughters with her - Prue, Piper, and Phoebe - the Charmed Ones. He is Paige Matthews' ex-step-father, although he considers her his own daughter, as they never have him separate her when he talks about his "girls". History Early life Victor was born into the Bennett family of mortals, and may have had a "manic" sister, an alcoholic niece or nephew and an aunt named Sylvia. He got a job as a businessman and lived in San Francisco, California. Marriage Victor Bennett married Patty Halliwell sometime before Prue was born in 1970. He did not know his wife was a witch until after they were married. Victor attempted to adjust to his wife's Wiccan life, but his mother-in-law, Penny, sparred with him constantly in a Bewitched-style, Darrin Stephens-Endora type relationship. She had low expectations for men, especially mortal men. Victor and Patty fought constantly over how to handle their daughters' magical heritage. Victor thought that magic was dangerous, and would hurt his girls. He wanted to raise them as normal girls, while Patty wanted to raise them as witches. Sometime after Piper was born, Patty started spending more time with her Whitelighter, Sam Wilder. Victor was increasingly frustrated with Sam's growing involvement in their lives and with magic in general, and left the family for a brief time in 1975. When Prue was six, Victor rescued her from the Nothing found within the Ice Cream Truck used to capture demon children. According to Victor, while he managed to save Prue, Grams was horrified, further hurting the family dynamic. (We All Scream for Ice Cream) Shortly afterward, Victor found out Patty and Sam were having an affair (whether or not it was a physical one was left ambiguous), and the two divorced sometime in 1977. Unknown to Victor, Patty was pregnant with a daughter by Sam, Paige Matthews. Victor was still around for his girls after Patty's death in February 1978. However, unable to deal with Penny's overbearing nature, he left for good after a demon attacked on the night of Piper's fifth birthday. (Sympathy for the Demon) This led to Piper having night terrors, as she subconsciously blamed herself for her parents' divorce. (Cheaper By The Coven) Prue and Phoebe were eight and three at the time, respectively. After Victor left, Grams warned the girls that he was a threat to them. Season One (reappearance) For the most part, the girls didn't hear from him again for 20 years. He suddenly appeared in San Francisco in 1998, not long after the girls' powers were unbound. Prue was suspicious of him, but Piper and Phoebe were more open to seeing him, as they had scarcely any memory of him. However, they grew suspicious of him after Victor admitted he wanted to take the Book of Shadows from the girls, in order to protect them. When he persisted, Prue made her feelings clear on the situation by using her telekinesis to violently fling him across the room. It turned out that a trio of shapeshifters were using him to get the Book. By betting his own life to protect the girls, he finally re-earns their trust, including Prue. However he leaves the sisters without a proper goodbye, instead leaving a home movie from the '70s of the girls on Christmas morning, on the Manor doorstep. (Thank You for Not Morphing) Victor wasn't heard from again for three years. Piper tried to keep in touch by sending him birthday cards, but only reluctantly because he never sent them one. Unbeknownst to her sisters, Phoebe kept in contact with Victor through e-mails and instant messages. Season Three (reunion after three years) Victor doesn't appear again until 2001, when he comes to San Francisco for a job interview. While in town, he assists the sisters in helping to capture the demon children and bring them to the Ice Cream Man's truck. By saving Prue from the Nothing once again, Victor finally proves himself to Prue, and the episode ends with he and all of his daughters on good terms. He appears several more times in the third season, to meet Piper's fiance Leo, to ask for Phoebe's magical assistance and to attend Piper and Leo's wedding. Victor has an immediate distrust of Leo once he found out he was a Whitelighter, as he believes that Patty's affair with Sam was one of the contributing factors to the end of their marriage. He is especially skeptical when Leo tells him Piper has a "higher calling"--it was the same line Sam used on Patty. Once Leo explains to Victor that despite what happened to Piper's parents, he is still marrying Piper no matter what, Victor seems to warm up to him. ("The Good, the Bad and the Cursed", "Just Harried") Season Four At this point, Victor is a welcomed member of the family, and obviously attends his daughter, Prue's funeral and is outraged when arguing about demons occurs during the wake. Victor appears later on in the season to attend Phoebe's wedding to Cole Turner. Victor seems to accept his girls' newly found sister, Paige. (Charmed Again, Marry-Go-Round) Season Five Sometime during the fifth season, Victor goes on a singles' cruise to Mexico, where he meets Doris, a demon in disguise. While it is not known for sure whether he was under the influence of a spell or not, Victor and Doris quickly fell in love and married. When he brought her home to meet his daughters, Doris showed her true colors and stabbed Victor in the abdomen, nearly killing him, before attempting to steal Piper's baby. She is eventually vanquished. Victor proves vital in this: despite being seriously wounded, he manages to climb down the stairs, pull Doris' partner away from Piper, and throw him over the railing, saving Piper and allowing the girls to vanquish him and Dorris. (The Day The Magic Died) Season Six When Chris Halliwell comes back from the future in the sixth season to save his brother Wyatt from becoming evil, Piper calls on her father to help understand why he is so distant towards her. To Victor's surprise, Chris is excited to see him; according to his grandson, they have a very close relationship in the future, and are drawn closer after Piper's death when Chris is only fourteen. Chris urges Victor to stop smoking cigars, telling him it will have a big impact on his health; Victor does so immediately. Victor advises Chris to try and get close to his mother because he couldn't during his life, and tells him that he possibly already changed his bleak future by coming to the past. (Hyde School Reunion) Season Seven After baby Chris is born, Wyatt expresses some jealousy towards him, using his powers to orb him away; one time, he orbed him right to Victor, who brought baby Chris home. From there, Victor gets involved with the problems surrounding Chris's Wiccaning and Wyatt and Chris's sibling rivalry. He and a temporarily-resurrected Grams bicker about the role of magic in children's lives, and eventually summon Patty to work out their issues. Patty sides with Victor, causing Grams to leave, and for Patty and Victor to ruminate on what kind of parents they would have been had they stayed married, and Patty lived to see the girls as teenagers. (Cheaper By The Coven) When The Charmed Ones prepare to fight Zankou at the end of season seven, they leave Wyatt, Chris and the deeds to the manor and P3 with Victor, making him their official guardian in case the sisters do not survive. (Something Wicca This Way Goes) Season Eight After the Charmed Ones are assumed dead by both the magical and mortal communities (even though they faked their deaths), Victor still maintains his role as the boys' guardian, even after the Elders try to talk him into giving the boys to them. The sisters use their powers to glamour into Victor's nieces. (Still Charmed & Kicking) When the Charmed Ones come out of hiding and reveal that they are, in fact, still alive, the charade ends. Victor's final appearance is in the season finale. Before the battle in Kill Billie Vol. 2 that kills Paige and Phoebe, Piper leaves her sons with Victor to protect them. Wyatt is taken by Dumain in order for antagonists, Billie and Christy to have enough power to summon the Hollow. Victor encourages baby Chris to use his newly founded powers to orb Wyatt back. When Piper and Leo go back in time with Coop's Ring to bring Paige and Phoebe back to life, they meet a younger Victor and Patty in the 1970s. When they bring the Patty from the past to the future, she meets an older Victor, who unfortunately tells her that they divorced, and that she is dead. Afterwards, she stays with him to catch up. Despite this, the episode ends happily, with the family brought back together, and Victor an integral part of it. Victor also informed Patty of Prue's fate, something she wants to forget and the two part on good terms. (Forever Charmed) Notable Family Members *Penny Halliwell - Ex-Mother-In-Law *Patty Halliwell - Ex-Wife *Doris Bennett- Ex-Wife *Prue Halliwell - Daughter *Piper Halliwell - Daughter *Phoebe Halliwell - Daughter *Paige Matthews - Ex-Step-Daughter *Wyatt Halliwell - Grandson *Chris Halliwell - Grandson *Prudence Melinda Halliwell - Granddaughter *Leo Wyatt - Son-In-Law *Coop - Son-In-Law *Henry Mitchell -Son-In-Law Appearances Victor Bennett appeared in a total of 14 episodes throughout the course of the series. ;Season 1 - :Thank You For Not Morphing ;Season 3 - :We All Scream for Ice Cream :The Good, the Bad and the Cursed :Just Harried ;Season 4 - :Charmed Again :Charmed Again Part 2 :Marry-Go-Round ;Season 5 - :Sympathy for the Demon :The Day the Magic Died ;Season 6 - :Hyde School Reunion ;Season 7 - :Cheaper by the Coven :Something Wicca This Way Goes ;Season 8 - :Still Charmed & Kicking :Kill Billie Vol. 2 :Forever Charmed Background Notes :Victor was played by James Read in all appearances except for his first one - "Thank You For Not Morphing", where he was played by Anthony Denison. :He was initially listed as "'Victor Halliwell'", but in "That '70s Episode" we learn that Penny's last name is Halliwell and Patty just never took Victor's last name. It was then changed to "'Victor Jones'", as seen on the Halliwell family tree in "Pardon My Past," but was finally settled on Victor Bennett in "We All Scream for Ice Cream." . Though, in the 5th season episode Baby's First Demon, the same Halliwell family tree is (briefly) shown displaying Victor's last name as Jones. It was also spelled Bennet in one of the earlier episodes before it became Bennett. :Victor Bennett has appaeared at least once in ever Season, except for Season Two. Additional Casting Anthony Denison portrays Victor in Season 1 episode Thank You For Not Morphing. Category:Mortals Category:Characters Category:Charmed Universe